Donaldson 2Architectural Window of the PastEarly Pueblo architecture was anything but a simple shelter for the people of the ancient southwest. Critical planning, thinking, and constructing went into the architecture that many archaeologists have excavated and linked to the Pueblo era. Following the life line of the settlement patterns in the four corners area, we see a diverse evolution of village content, and structural pattern. Thereafter was a legacy of sophisticated builders paving their way through history. The Pueblo I period began around AD 700, where their houses went from subterranean to above ground structures. This was a sign that a new era in architecture had began. This was followed by three other major demographic shifts starting the Pueblo period where villages went from establishing themselves on mesa tops down to the canyons, Pueblo tribes went from smaller sites, to much larger sites, and from dispersed villages, to aggregated and denser settlements. Changes were a constant commodity whether it was adding

Donaldson 3something new, or taking away something old, these people created new ways to advance their constructional elements. The architectural shifts made by those occupants of the four corners region illustrate how the pit house to pueblo transition held so much evidence for numerous opportunities to learn as much as potentially possible about the villages and societies that once thrived in the southwest United States.Archaeologists use the excavated pueblo architectural trends and variations to uncover the stories behind the structures themselves. After many years of experience and excavations, scientists can infer certain facts when observing a structure such as a pit house or a kiva. Based on excavated sites around the pueblo area there have been a number of recorded changes in village life as time went on. Technology improved as pit houses faded out as the style for the primary habituation room, while above ground households took their place. This was a symbol of technological advancement because the surface structures were better built, were more sturdy, and indicated a new era was on the horizon. We know these people were somewhat advanced due to their five different construction techniques used to form these villages. The earlier techniques

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